One of the best known and most infamous characters in Darlaston was scrap collector Billy Muggins, who was often talked about, and raised many a smile in the town. He was born in Eldon Street around 1904, and earned a living pushing his cart around the town, collecting scrap metal. He is fondly remembered for his warm and friendly demeanour, and his sayings, such as "Gorrenny Missis?", "Hope it dow rain", and "Nice day ay it."

He collected all kinds of scrap, and crudely repaired holes in old buckets and bowls, which he sold to people during his rounds. He later lived in Rough Hay Road, then Mill Street, and finally in Watson Road Moxley. He died at Goscote Hospital, Walsall in January 1974. His real name was William Walters, although everyone knew him as Billy Muggins.

A made-up picture of Billy pushing his familiar cart along Moxley Road, possibly heading for the scrap yard.
     


Catherine's Cross in the late 1960s.
In the mid 1960s the Darlaston Branch railway line from James Bridge to Wednesbury closed as part of the Beeching cuts. This fine photograph from 1959 was kindly sent by Lynn Horton who lives in Toronto. It was taken in 1959 by her Darlaston born grandfather, Sydney Patrick Horton.

The train has just passed under Bull Piece Bridge on its way to Wednesbury. Behind the bridge is Darlaston baths. The grey structure on the right of the bridge, is the top of the old railway footbridge from Victoria Road to Station Street.

In January 1965 Darlaston lost its railway station when the line was closed to passenger traffic. An even more important event happened the following year as a result of the Local Government Reform Act. Darlaston lost its status as an urban district, and came under the direct control of Walsall Metropolitan Borough. As a result, Darlaston Urban District Council held it's last meeting at the Town Hall on Tuesday 29th March, 1966. When the council members attended the meeting they found a wreath of assorted daffodils in the corridor. The attached message read as follows:

"From the tradespeople of the town. In Memory of D.U.D.C."

Councillor Mrs. E. E. Wilkinson, who chaired the meeting said that "The spirit of the Darlaston people was good, sound and independent. They were the kind of people who see that their town was not forgotten."


The final meeting of Darlaston's council members.

On Saturday 26th March, 1966 seven Darlaston councillors were elected to the Fellowship of Darlaston and presented with commemorative caskets and scrolls at a celebration dinner. They can be seen in the photograph below:


Left to Right:
Back Row - Mr. J. A. Wilkes, Mr. J. A. Smith, Mr. F. Baker, and Mr. T. Croft.
Front Row - Mr. E. Sutton, Mrs. E. E. Wilkinson, and Mr. T. W. Wilkinson.

In the early 1960s Darlaston Comprehensive School opened on the area of George Rose Park that is adjacent to Herberts Park Road. This was part of a plan to streamline secondary education in the town, which resulted in the closure of Slater Street (boys), and Salisbury Street (girls) Secondary Modern Schools. Today the school is known as Darlaston Community Science College and is part of Walsall LEA. There are just over 1,100 students, nearly 80 full time teachers and about 35 support staff. Students actively engage in work with adults from many agencies that are associated with the college. As a result of this work in the community the college was awarded a School's Curriculum Award in June 2000.


Moxley Road (often called Wood's Bank) in the early 1960s.

In the mid 1960s two 15 storey blocks of flats, Great Croft House and John Wootton House were built next to the site of the old Wesleyan graveyard off Great Croft Street. This was a time of great change in the town centre, which would soon look very different.


 John Wootton House and Great Croft House in 2002.

 In 1970 and 1971 much of the old town centre was demolished for the construction of St. Lawrence Way. The casualties included Great Croft Street, Eldon Street, and much of Bilston Street.

The two fifths of a mile length of road cost £226,800 and was opened in July 1971 by Lord Harmar Nicholls, a former chairman of the Council.
The council's "folly". This row of shops in New Road was built in the early 1960s. The plans followed by the builders had been copied back to front, and so the shops were also built back to front. Because of this they were never occupied, and were demolished in the early 1970s to make way for the ASDA supermarket.
Pinfold Street J.M.I. School and the Wake Field from the top of the old pit bank that used to be where the bungalows in Wiley Avenue South are today.

There were two filled-in mine shafts on top of the bank. Older people can remember them before they were filled-in. If you dropped a stone into one of them it took a long time to reach the water at the bottom.
The Wake Field was named after Pat Collin's fair, which came regularly to the town. The photograph opposite shows the fair in the mid 1960s.

The land was owned by Pat Collins who purchased many disused coal mines, clay pits, and sand pits in the Black Country, levelled them and laid gravel to make a suitable surface for his fairs.
The southern edge of the Wake Field looking towards Moxley Road. This photograph from the early 1960s was taken from the top of the old school air raid shelters and shows the area that was once occupied by the old Victorian houses and their back gardens. Immediately behind the houses was a courtyard with a large double gateway onto Moxley Road.
This photograph shows the derelict Shaw's scrap yard that stood on the western side of the pit bank by the Wake Field. Access to the yard was via a double gateway at the end of Woods Bank Terrace. The scrap yard was owned by Charlie Shaw, a generous man who used to drink in the Moxley Arms. First thing in the evening he would buy everyone in the pub a drink.
In the mid 1970s much of King Street and High Street was demolished to make way for the new ASDA store, some new shops, and a new library. This transition ended with the the building of two more 15 storey blocks of flats, Leys Court and Alma Court on the Leys.


Building work begins on the Leys flats.
Great Croft Street in 1963, on a wet Sunday afternoon, looking towards Pinfold Street. Courtesy of Irene Bishop.
The photograph above was sent in by Irene Bishop who lived at number 30 Great Croft Street, the second front door on the left. This is part of the area that was redeveloped in the mid 1970s. She recalled that this was the only house left standing in the street, the others having been demolished around the beginning of World War 2. Most of the occupants were re-housed at Bentley. The site of the houses opposite was occupied by air-raid shelters. On the right-hand corner is Belcher's offices and on the left is the Castle pub, which was run by the Foxalls during the war. When there was an air-raid Irene and her family used to go into the cellars of the Castle instead of the nasty-smelling air-raid shelters opposite. The small single storey building on the extreme right behind the car is the air-raid warden's post, which was looked after by her father, the ARP warden.

The late 1970s saw changes in Darlaston that would have been unimaginable in the previous decade. Most of the large factories that formed the main stay of Darlaston's industrial might were forced out of business by the recession. This dealt a terrible blow to Darlaston especially as the previous ten years were so successful. During the next decade the large companies disappeared one by one until a large part of the town became a derelict wasteland. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that tax still had to be paid on empty useable buildings, and so the roofs were quickly removed as factories became empty, so avoiding the tax. This meant that the empty buildings quickly deteriorated, became unusable, and were demolished to leave an industrial wasteland.


The top of King Street in the 1970s.


King Street in the early 1970s before redevelopment.


Another view of old King Street.
With large numbers of people permanently out of work, and with little investment, Darlaston became a shadow of its once proud self. Darlaston people had their own identity, and were proud of this, but it is now rapidly becoming a thing of the past. The area is quickly changing into a residential suburb of Walsall, the last large factory; F. H. Lloyds on the Darlaston and Wednesbury boundary closed in April 1990.


The old High Street before demolition and disappearance.

 The Black Country Route from Bentley to West Bromwich opened in mid 1995 following the Darlaston/Willenhall and Darlaston/Moxley boundaries.

It has brought a lot of noise and pollution to Moxley, Rough Hay, and the area around George Rose Park.

The future of King Street was in doubt due to the closure of the original ASDA store in the late 1990s.

   

The Bull Stake before redevelopment.


Another view of High Street.

A walk along King Street revealed a very shabby looking shopping centre. Many of the shops were empty as most people came here to shop because of the presence of the ASDA store. When the store closed the number of shoppers greatly reduced.

At this time Darlaston's future looked bleak. The once prosperous town centre had turned into a run-down ghost town and many of the old factory sites were derelict. Luckily things were about to change for the better.
Darlaston's high-rise disappears. In 2001 Alma Court and Leys Court were demolished by Coleman & Company (Plant Hire) Limited.


The end of an era as the old ASDA store disappears.

 On 14th June, 2001 ASDA submitted plans to Walsall Council for the building of a larger supermarket in Darlaston town centre. Luckily the plans were approved and work soon got underway.

The old supermarket and many of the shops on the western side of King Street were demolished in 2002 to make way for the new development. The new store opened on Monday 18th November, 2002 and has been a great success.
Thanks to the new store, things have greatly improved. The town centre is a busy and vibrant place again.

Unfortunately many of the older shops on the eastern side of King Street are still run-down and in need of investment.


The changing face of King Street in summer 2002.


The new face of Darlaston.

 Darlaston town's rejuvenation has almost changed the town centre beyond recognition. If the proposed demolition of the old shops in Pinfold Street goes ahead little will remain of the original shopping area.
Darlaston's first town centre high-rise development met its end in October and November 2004 when John Wootton House and Great Croft House were demolished.


The end of the flats is in sight as demolition work rapidly progresses. Courtesy of Terry Hurley.
Slater Street school, the old Board school, ended its life in March 2005. A variety of uses were found for the school buildings after closure in the 1960s. Sadly the school was the victim of several arson attacks in mid February and badly damaged.
The school site in June 2005, only a single building survives.
Longmore's, one of Darlaston's oldest surviving steelworks, recently closed. G. B. Longmore of Springfield Works, Mill Street produced bright drawn steel. After closure the site was acquired by Bellway Homes, whose Woods Bank housing development now occupies the site. The photograph on the right was taken in February 2005 when a few of the houses had already been built.

Sadly the old Moxley Infants School was the victim of a mindless arson attack on 19th May, 2009. The fire started around 8.30p.m. in the buildings behind the school. Eight fire crews and around 40 firemen arrived to put out flames which were 20ft. high. Luckily the building was empty at the time. Several youngsters were spotted close to the scene at the start of the fire. The school was left in a bad state of repair, and unsafe in places. Although the building was locally listed, the council were urged to demolish it sooner rather than later.
 


  The front of the school, as seen in November, 2009. It had been derelict since closure in
  November, 2006.

 After the fire, the buildings at the rear of the school were demolished. This photograph was
 taken part-way through the demolition in June 2009.		  
 


The back of the school in November 2009 after the rear buildings had gone.


Demolition work on the main school building began in August 2010.


A view of the back of the school as demolition gets underway.


A final view as the eastern end disappears forever.


The site of the school in November, 2010 when demolition had been completed.

Another demolition site, as seen in November 2010.

The ROAPP Hall in Dorsett Road Terrace, built in 1933, and about to disappear forever.
One final casualty, also under demolition in November 2010, is G. B. Longmore's canteen at the bottom of Dorsett Road Terrace.

It was last used by a catering company.

Darlaston's future now looks much brighter than it did a decade ago. Many of the old derelict industrial areas have been revived thanks to investment and redevelopment schemes, and very few empty factories remain. One such scheme, the Darlaston Heritage Economic Regeneration Scheme is designed to restore historic buildings and historic open spaces. Three areas that have recently been improved are Darlaston War Memorial, the Owen Memorial Gardens, and Victoria Park, which received a £67,000 facelift thanks to Walsall Council and Darlaston Local Neighbourhood Partnership.

The Town Hall was closed in September 2006 on health and safety grounds. Thankfully Walsall Council spent £325,000 to renovate the building, which reopened in June 2008. To mark the opening, organist Mervyn Jones was joined by the Wolverhampton Orpheus Male Voice Choir and popular Xylophone player Jack Williams for a two-hour performance, which was given to an appreciative 150-strong crowd. Hopefully this is the first of many events to be held there.

I very much hope that  investment in the town will continue, and that it can look forward to a bright future.
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